Officials confirm identity of Early body

The woman's death is called 'suspicious;' autopsy results are pending

The woman found dead in a rural Early house last week after a botched kidnapping was Marilyn Schmitt, 45, who lived at the house with her son who was recently released from an eastern Iowa prison, Sac County officials have confirmed.

County Attorney Ben Smith said the woman was the biological mother of Kirk Riley Levin, 21, who was released Tuesday from Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility and faces three felony charges for allegedly kidnapping a Storm Lake woman, who was an acquaintance, Thursday morning.

Investigators allege that Levin asked the woman - whom they have declined to identify - for a ride at about 6:30 a.m. to the rural Early house at 2242 Ira Ave., where he coaxed her into a barn on the property and bound her with rope. He allegedly later put her in the backseat of a car and drove too fast on an ice- and snow-covered gravel road, lost control of the vehicle and went into a ditch.

A passerby farmer stopped to help at about 8 a.m., the victim shouted for help, and Levin allegedly fled. He was found about 40 minutes later several miles northwest of Early near a barn.

Autopsy results of Schmitt's body are pending, Smith said, and he has declined to speculate about criminal charges that might stem from her death.

Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure said Friday that "we have a mental health problem," but declined to comment further about whether Levin suffers from a diagnosed mental illness. He insinuated that Levin would have killed the Storm Lake woman when he told the Daily Times Herald: "We truly believe we saved her life."

Smith said in a Sac City courtroom Friday that Levin has been "locked up" since he was 17 years old. Court records show that Levin has served time in jails and prisons in Wisconsin - where he grew up - and Iowa for felony vehicle theft and burglary charges.

Levin is held at the Sac County jail in Sac City for felony charges of kidnapping, assault with intent to commit sexual abuse and assault while participating in a felony. They are punishable by a total of up to 20 years in prison.

His next court hearing is set for Tuesday, in which a judge will rule on whether to approve Smith's request to raise Levin's bond to $500,000. It was initially set at $20,000.

Levin's attorney, Charles Schulte, said in the Friday court hearing that Levin's relatives will not post bond to get him out of jail, regardless of the amount.